Willes: Canucks, Stars and a huge reverse in NHL fortunes

Vancouver Canucks owner Francesco Aquilini (left) and general manager Mike Gillis in the stands of General Motors Place, now Rogers Arena. Since buying half of the Canucks franchise in 2004 and taking complete control five years ago, the Aquilini family has presided over a steady rise in Vancouver's NHL fortunes.Photo by
Jeff Vinnick

To understand the massive change the NHL has undergone in the last decade — a change that, among other things, dramatically altered the fortunes of the Dallas Stars and the Vancouver Canucks — let’s hop into the way-back machine and set it for the spring of 2000.

That season the Stars finished in the top-three in the NHL in both revenues and payroll. A year after winning the Stanley Cup they lost to New Jersey in the Cup final but, given their personnel and the resources at their disposal, they appeared to be positioned for a long stay atop the league’s food chain.

And then there were the Canucks.

That season, they missed the playoffs for the fourth year in a row while drawing an average of — wait for it — 14,649 fans per game. Then-owner John McCaw was trying to sell the franchise but couldn’t find any takers. Ron Toigo, who would bring the WHL Giants to the city a year later, looked long and hard at the Canucks operation but his board of directors deemed the investment too risky.

Remember all that? Good, because looking at the two teams now, it’s difficult to wrap your mind around everything that’s happened since.

The Canucks and Stars meet Tuesday night at Rogers Arena and, as long as the two teams are owned by the Aquilini family and Tom Gaglardi, respectively, their games will carry an extra dash of Tabasco. Five years ago, the Aquilinis and Gaglardi were embroiled in a vicious lawsuit over control of the Canucks.

The courts would rule in the Aquilinis’ favour. Gaglardi, meanwhile, bought the Stars out of bankruptcy earlier this season. And if that’s all you knew about the shared history of the two franchises, it would be reason to tune in to their meetings.

But, once you get past the ownership intrigue, the stories of the Canucks and Stars are meaningful for other reasons.

Mirroring a sea change that’s benefitted all the Canadian franchises, the Canucks have experienced a steady and spectacular rise since that 2000 season and are now among the most prosperous franchises in the game.

Were they lucky? To a point. The Aquilinis enjoyed something of a perfect storm when they bought half the operation from McCaw in the fall of ’04. Two years prior, the NBA Grizzlies had decamped for Memphis, leaving the Canucks as the only major player in the market. The Canadian dollar was also rising sharply and the NHL was in the process of installing a salary cap.

Almost overnight, the Canucks turned into a money tree.

But they’ve also grown under the Aquilinis, and ownership’s commitment to winning, especially since Mike Gillis took over, cannot be questioned. The Aquilinis have turned a profit but they’ve also plowed money back into the operation, investing in infrastructure and hockey operations while swallowing hefty minor-league salaries to add players like David Booth and Christian Ehrhoff.

“They’ve never said no,” according to one source within the Canucks.

And they have more aspirations for the team. A new practice facility is being contemplated as part of a massive real-estate play connected to Rogers Arena. There are plans for an all-Canucks TV station, patterned after Maple Leafs TV. The Canucks’ success has also attracted the attention of the NBA.

In 2000 there was legitimate concern for the future of this franchise. Now, they’re a revenue-generating monster. It’s reported the Aquilinis bought out McCaw for about $300 million. The market value of the Canucks and Rogers Arena today is at least double that.

The very least.

And then there are the Stars.

Gaglardi, whose mother is from Texas, bought them for a bargain-basement price after the banks had foreclosed on former owner Tom Hicks. They haven’t made the playoffs since ’07-’08. They sit 28th in the NHL in attendance and 29th in payroll. True, they’ve had a bounce-back season under GM Joe Nieuwendyk and new coach Glen Gulutzan and making the playoffs would be a huge step for them.

But there’s still a long way to reclaim the territory they once occupied. The good news is that things can change quickly in the NHL. The bad news is that the Stars know that from first-hand experience.

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